The Decameron

The Decameron

by

Giovanni Boccaccio

Rustico is the young desert hermit who takes in Alibech in Dioneo’s third tale (III, 10). He illustrates pride, since he thinks his lifestyle of fasting and prayer will protect him from human sexual yearnings, but quickly gives into the urging of his flesh and coerces Alibech into sex. He pays the price for this, since she likes it so much that she demands it from him until she’s nearly exhausted his energy, and he is relieved when Neerbal takes her off his hands.

Rustico Quotes in The Decameron

The The Decameron quotes below are all either spoken by Rustico or refer to Rustico. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Love and Sex Theme Icon
).
Day 3: Conclusion Quotes

“Now we shall discover whether the wolf can fare any better at leading the sheep than the sheep have fared in leading the wolves.”

On hearing this, Filostrato laughed and said: “Had you listened to me, the wolves would have taught the sheep by now to put the devil back in Hell, no less skillfully than Rustico taught Alibech. But you have not exactly been behaving like sheep, and therefore you must not describe us as wolves…”

“Allow me to tell you, Filostrato,” replied Neifile, “that if you men had tried to teach us anything of the sort, you might have learned some sense from us, as Masetto did from the nuns, and retrieved the use of your tongues when your bones were rattling from exhaustion.”

On perceiving that the ladies had as many scythes as he had arrows, Filostrato abandoned his jesting and turned to the business of ruling his kingdom.

Related Characters: Neifile (speaker), Filostrato (speaker), Masetto, Young Nuns, Alibech, Rustico
Page Number: 280
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Decameron LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Decameron PDF

Rustico Quotes in The Decameron

The The Decameron quotes below are all either spoken by Rustico or refer to Rustico. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Love and Sex Theme Icon
).
Day 3: Conclusion Quotes

“Now we shall discover whether the wolf can fare any better at leading the sheep than the sheep have fared in leading the wolves.”

On hearing this, Filostrato laughed and said: “Had you listened to me, the wolves would have taught the sheep by now to put the devil back in Hell, no less skillfully than Rustico taught Alibech. But you have not exactly been behaving like sheep, and therefore you must not describe us as wolves…”

“Allow me to tell you, Filostrato,” replied Neifile, “that if you men had tried to teach us anything of the sort, you might have learned some sense from us, as Masetto did from the nuns, and retrieved the use of your tongues when your bones were rattling from exhaustion.”

On perceiving that the ladies had as many scythes as he had arrows, Filostrato abandoned his jesting and turned to the business of ruling his kingdom.

Related Characters: Neifile (speaker), Filostrato (speaker), Masetto, Young Nuns, Alibech, Rustico
Page Number: 280
Explanation and Analysis: